Before very long, however, the neighbours began to ask such pointed questions, that Ivan now lived in a state of chronic suspense. He feared every moment that the truth would leak out, and that his beautiful young wife would receive condign punishment.
At last, finding such a state of apprehension intolerable, he confided in an old man who was reputed a sage and metaphysician--one who was extremely well versed in all matters appertaining to the spiritual world. "There is only one course to pursue," the old man said, "you must have the evil spirit in her exorcized, and you must have it done immediately. Otherwise, she will continue her depredations, and your good neighbours will find her out and kill her. They more than half suspect her now, and are talking of paying a visit some night, when you are snug and safe in bed, to the cemetery, to see if the story you told them about your mother"s and sisters" sudden deaths is correct."
"What kind of exorcism would you use?" Ivan inquired nervously. "You would not hurt her?"
"The form of exorcism I should make use of would do her no lasting harm," the old man said feelingly; "you can rely on me for that."
"But is exorcism always effectual?" Ivan persisted.
"When exorcism is ineffectual it is the exception, not the rule," the old man replied, "and there are very few cases of exorcism being employed ineffectually upon those who have become werwolves through the practice of magic, or the medium of flowers or of water."
"Should my wife refuse to undergo the ceremony, what would you advise then?" Ivan asked.
"Strategy and force," the old man said, "anything to prevent her continuing in her demoniacal ways, and being burned or drowned by an infuriated mob."
Thus admonished, Ivan, without delay, broached the matter to Breda. But she was so angry with him for having dared even to mention exorcism, that he thought it best to act on the advice of the old occultist and to catch her unawares. Consequently, one evening, when the moon was in the full, and she had just changed into wolf form, he stole into her room accompanied by the old man and two a.s.sistants. After a desperate struggle, Ivan and the three exorcists overpowered her, and bound her so securely that she could not move.
They then took her out of doors, to a lonely spot at the back of the house, and placed her in the centre of an equilateral triangle that had been carefully marked on the ground, in red chalk. At seven or eight feet to the west of the triangle they then kindled a wood fire, and placed over it a vessel containing a fumigation mixture of hyperic.u.m, vinegar, sulphur, cayenne, and mountain ash berries.
The old man then knelt down, and crossing himself on his forehead and chest, prayed vigorously, until the preparation in the pot began to give off strong fumes. He then arose, and both he and his a.s.sistants took up specially prepared switches, cut from a mountain ash, and gripping them tightly in their hands, approached the rec.u.mbent form of the werwolf.
This, however, was more than Ivan could stand--he had objected strongly enough to the fumigation, which, being nauseous and irritating, had made his wolf-wife gasp and choke; but when it came to flogging her--well, it turned him sick and cold. He forgot discretion, prudence, everything, saving the one great fact--monstrous, incredible, abominable--that the being he loved, adored, and worshipped was about to be beaten with rods!
With a shout of wrath he rushed at the trio, and s.n.a.t.c.hing their wands from them, laid them so soundly about their backs that they all three fled from the ground, shrieking with pain and terror. Then he knelt by his prostrate wife, and cutting the thongs that bound her, set her free.
She rose on her feet a huge, white wolf. Regarding him steadily for a moment from out of her gleaming grey eyes, she swung slowly round, and with one more look, more human than animal, she darted swiftly away, and was speedily lost in the gloom.
METHUEN"S POPULAR NOVELS
AUTUMN 1912
THE BIG FISH
By H. B. Marriott Watson, Author of "Alise of Astra." Crown 8vo, 6s.
[July
This strange tale of adventure in the mountains of Peru has a certain basis in fact. "The Big Fish" is the name by which the lost treasure of the Incas is known, and the story describes the search for it, which opens in a London auction room and, after many tragic adventures, ends in the lonely mountains in a manner which neither of the seekers had antic.i.p.ated, but with which both are satisfied.
HER SERENE HIGHNESS
By Philip Laurence Oliphant. Cr. 8vo, 6s. [July
Disillusioned, and disgusted with Western civilization, the hero of this story, a man of remarkable force and quality, turns to the ideals of the East, becomes to all intents an Oriental, and makes for himself a great position as the white ruler of a black people in Central India. His wife deserted him in early life under a misunderstanding, goes in search of him, and finding him at last, throws in her lot with his, and succeeds in winning him back; but not until through jealousy and other pa.s.sions, he is forced to witness the sacrifice of his power and fly for very life.
JUDITH LEE: Some Pages from her Life
By Richard Marsh, Author of "A Royal Indiscretion." With Four Ill.u.s.trations. Crown 8vo, 6s. [July
The world has already been introduced to the famous female detective Judith Lee in the pages of the Strand Magazine, where her popularity was very great. The child of parents who were teachers of the oral system to the deaf and dumb, as soon almost as she learnt to speak she learnt to read what people were saying by watching their lips. Devoting her whole life to the improvement of a very singular natural apt.i.tude, and employing it in the discovery and frustration of crime, she has become, as we find in this book, a constant source of wonder and delight, and a very encyclopaedia of adventure.
THE OAk.u.m PICKERS
By L. S. Gibson, Author of "The Heart of Desire." Crown 8vo, 6s. [July
A story treating of modern social life, and incidentally of the hardships inflicted by certain phases of the Divorce Laws upon the innocent partner in an unhappy marriage. The two very dissimilar women are well delineated and contrasted. Cynthia and Elizabeth, each in her own way, are so human and sympathetic that the reader can hardly fail to endorse the quotation on the t.i.tle-page, "I do not blame such women, but for love they pick much oak.u.m." The men are drawn with no less strength and sincerity; while Lady Juliet--the brilliant, heartless, little mondaine who precipitates the tragedy of three lives--is a thumb-nail sketch of a fascinating, if worthless, type.
HAUNTING SHADOWS; or, The House of Terror
By M. F. Hutchinson. Crown 8vo, 6s. [August
An English girl, brought up under harsh surroundings, considers that opportunity suddenly opens the doors of Life. But these doors swing back to the accompaniment of sinister and terrible things. The very threshold of the new life is a place of terror. A harsh and inexorable fate forces her reluctant feet along a difficult way, where it seems as if none of the joys of existence can lighten the darkness. The story shows with what results to herself and others Elaine Westcourt became an inmate of the "House of Terror."
A WILDERNESS WOOING
By W. Victor Cook, Author of "Anton of the Alps." Crown 8vo, 6s.
[August
A thrilling story of the early French-Canadian pioneers, and the romantic adventures of a young heir to an English earldom. The novel, which is full of excitement and dramatic incident, presents a series of vivid pictures of the days when the great pathfinder La Salle was carrying the lilies of France at utmost hazard into the Western wilds.
The love interest is strong, and attractively handled, and even such strange-seeming affairs as the "Ship of Women" and the marriage market at Quebec have their historical sanction.
NANCE OF MANCHESTER
By Orme Agnus, Author of "Sarah Fuldon"s Lovers." Crown 8vo, 6s.
[August
Dr. Anthony Belton called Nance "the bravest girl in Manchester," and he was a good judge. She a.s.sumed maternal cares at an early age, and she lived for her children. Later she took up her residence in the South of England with Mrs. Nolliver, and there struck up a friendship with Miss Denise Martayne, a lady whose gifts had put her in an exalted if not a happy position. It was a friendship that dispelled gloom and created happiness. "Nance of Manchester" is a tribute to the omnipotence of love.
A KINGDOM DIVIDED
By David Lisle, Author of "A Painter of Souls." Crown 8vo, 6s. [August
This new novel by the author of A Painter of Souls may be described as actively controversial. It deals largely with poignant chapters in the life of a young clergyman, and in its pages we find an amazing array of startling facts connected with the march of Ritualism and the future of England. Side by side with the history of a tragic struggle we find glowing descriptions of scenery and of brilliant social life. The scene is laid in Devon, and, later on, at Biarritz.
A WOMAN IN THE LIMELIGHT
By Charles Gleig, Author of "The Nancy Manuvres." Crown 8vo, 6s.
[August
A Woman in the Limelight presents candidly a typical actress of the Musical Comedy Stage, treating of her career and her love affairs with a realism that is convincing, but free of offence. The heroine allures and for a long time retains the devotion and affection of a typical solitary Londoner, who is not less devoted to the bon motif; but the inevitable break occurs. There is plenty of humour and of first-hand knowledge in this study of upper Bohemian life of to-day, and the characters are vividly drawn.